Judith's thought-provoking soul-searching journal

Friday!

I wasn't too productive this week, but got through it all right, probably got enough done.

I am sitting at yet another coffee place that offers free wireless internet. I am really glad I didn't sign up for T-mobile's hot spots. That's just such a ripoff. I have three coffee places near where I work and live that offer it free.

I got the air pollution control district credit for my new car! $1,000. I will actually get a check, in about thirty days. I plan to put the money right into the car payments. With the low interest rate it will be meaningful.

My keyb oard is not acting as badly. I wonder if I needed to knock it around a bit.

Now, for the weekend, what? More clearing out. Sorting. Cleaning. Got to. It's making me nutso.

Did I mention how much I liked Kerry's speech? Damn. It was terrific. I had been worried about seeing him as "presidential" and last night I felt he was. I feel much better. The polls are looking good, too.

Last night I went to a Dem "house party" at a mobilehome park clubhouse. There were about 75 of us there, tending toward an older crowd but with several in their thirties, and several children, a few young adults. We had spaghetti, wine and beer, salad, bread, and even cake. It was fun being part of that. I went alone - I had meant to ask Paul but when I got home he was holed up in his room and didn't answer my knock. I had asked karen last week and she said she was interested, so I left a message for her but didn't hear from her. So I went alone. I met a few people there that I know, which was nice, and I got fired up again, which was, I believe, the purpose of the event. All of us listening to McCleland and then Kerry, and how good they were! I sat next to a Republican, a woman fed up with what Bush had done to her job.

I bought a T-shirt and a button. I volunteered. Recklessly. This won't be the last we hear of that, I'm certain.

Today I thought I should pack the T-shirt in with the other stuff I'm sending to Elaine, but I couldn't part with it without having one of my own. So tomorrow I'll see if I can find one at the Dem headquarters, if it's open. They cost more online than I paid last night. But I guess I could go for those if that's the choice.

I'm listening to This American Life. They went to a 24-hour restaurant in Chicago and tried to talk to everyone who came in there in one 24-hour period. They have captured the differences in the crowd at different times of day, and the differences in people. It's the kind of thing I often think about doing, but couldn't possibly do on my own.

One woman said part of her was in the restaurant but another part, a future part, was somewhere she did not know. She went on to describe how dreaming is perhaps reality and ... I tuned out at that point. It's interesting that some people can have a different way of seeing the world but it's still not interesting, not to me. Others are playing to the microphone.

This episode made me think of the skills of the interviewer. They didn't have time to get comfortable with all, with any, of the people in there, yet they managed to gain their trust, more than I can imagine doing myself.